Tarot Etc. Thursday No. 3

I’ve acquired a few new boxes and have been shifting cards around between them all. This is another box designed as a book.

I liked it because it looks like a painting, and the kind of painting I’m drawn to.

It’s now the home of what must be one of my earliest decks, if not the first one I bought. At that time, my friend Princess Patti introduced me to Tarot cards when she did a few readings for me. I liked the way the readings made me think about things, and still see Tarot more as a means for discerning what we want and need, where we are and where we want to be, and how past events have shaped us, much more than as a tool for predicting the future or delving into the intentions of other people, which is how some people use it.

Because of Patti, I also learned that a good card reader helps you avoid the trap of seeing only what you want to see in a reading. Sometimes the hardest cards are the best ones. I’m also a believer that when you want an answer to be YES, but you get a NO, and you immediately reject it, that’s another kind of answer. You intend to do what you want to do, and only time will tell if your instinct served you well.

Ego, will, and desire are strong adversaries to the advice we get from people. Why would advice from cards be any different?

I can’t be sure, but I think the deck Patti used was the Rider Waite Tarot. It’s been around since the early 1900s and is one of the most popular. It is very likely why I bought this one. It’s a reliable deck and one I still enjoy using. It was also the deck used in the book shown below, which helped me learn a lot more about doing readings.

Since I wouldn’t share readings I do for myself, I thought it would be interesting to do one for a character. She’s at a pivotal point in her life in which she is resistant to new relationships. There are three men who might like to change her mind: her estranged husband, a potential creative partner, and a new friend.

I decided to pull three cards, and let each card represent one of the men in the order above. I’ll put more behind the cut, if you’re interested. I’m relying heavily on the little book that came with the cards for descriptions of the cards themselves.

The estranged husband is represented in the Major Arcana Judgment card. (I see I spelled the word “judgment” differently from the deck. In this case, the card reader is imposing her will on the cards!)

The angel blows his horn and the dead rise from their tombs. They express wonder, ecstasy, and adoration. The message here is the accomplishment of transformation. A great summons has been heard and answered from within. I know her situation, so my thought is: MMH, there’s a reason he’s your estranged husband. You are transforming yourself into a stronger person who can live independently away from him. Don’t go backwards. Answer the summons of your heart when it tells you to move on.

The potential creative partner is represented by the two of Wands. The low number indicates something at its beginning. This striking man is standing on battlements looking out at the sea and shore. In one hand, he holds a globe, In the other, a staff, and a second staff looks like it’s fixed to the battlement by a ring. My immediate reaction is that he’s caught between something fixed, and something possible. His outward look indicates an explorer or a conquerer, and while something good may be about to happen, it seems unlikely to be romance. I think a working relationship with MMH holds more promise, especially if he’s about to leave.

(Writer’s note: This card made me laugh, because I wanted SO MUCH to let her have even a brief fling with him. She’s been through a lot and could use some happiness, and I like him. However, I have a plan down the line that will work out much better for both of them if there’s no romance. Damn it.)

I drew the nine of Swords for the new friend, and what I see on this card is MMH at this point in time. She lies on her bed, weeping or mourning. Something has been lost or has left her, maybe a person. That’s part of her suffering. This is a high card, indicating some situation or event is coming to an end. That means something different awaits. I would advise her to learn from the past but to tentatively accept this new friendship. Should it advance beyond friendship, I’d suggest a future reading.

I’m not as certain as I sound about the husband, though, and ETA, that made me go look in the bigger book, and damn it, THIS IS NO HELP. It’s just the interior dialogue my writer and editor have been having with my characters.

This could be one of those times when I let myself write what I want, or the characters just take off in some direction I didn’t plan, and eventually, either could mean a rewrite. A conscious editor lives within me, but so does a subconscious editor. That one will pick and prod at me until I course-correct.